An extensive case history of instructional environment and acquisition of reading skills by 50 first-grade students in ten classrooms indicates that the rate at which students mastered decoding depended on classroom instruction with direct instruction appearing most profitable for children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. (MKM)

Investigates the effectiveness of the Char-L Intensive Phonics program within a six-week summer tutorial program for students with learning problems. Finds significant gains in reading for most students and improved word attack skills for all students completing academic tasks requiring reading. (KEH)

Summarizes the latest issues and research on reading that are of particular interest to classroom teachers. Discusses phonics versus whole language, meeting individual student needs, matching teaching strategies to grade levels, the reading-writing link, and using technology to support instruction. (WRM)

Compared the longitudinal effects of phonics and whole-language instruction on kindergartners' reading and writing task performance over one year. Found that the whole-language group made more progress in reading and writing, and with more developmental coherence, than the phonics group. (JPB)

Describes the controversy over phonics versus whole-language reading instruction, and cites research concluding the necessity for combining the two methods to achieve comprehension. Gives examples of practitioner techniques of combining phonemics, phonics, and whole language in early reading instruction. Sidebars highlight key resource…

Some tips can assist teachers in guiding each pupil to achieve more optimally, with respect to the ability to read well and reading comprehension. Among these 10 specific tips are: (1) teach individualized phonics in context; (2) assist the student to read in proper thought units by covering up words in sentences for clarification; (3) assist…

Focusing on spelling as an integral part of the writing process, this annotated bibliography addresses the problem of developing individualized, focused, and relevant methods for teaching spelling to elementary students. The annotations are organized around two specific questions: What strategies do children use to spell words and what…

William S. Gray, Professor of Education and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Chicago, began work in 1929 on a major revision of the "Elson Readers," a popular basal series published by Scott, Foresman and Company. Organized around the daily life of two ordinary children, the "Dick and Jane" readers…

This Manual provides the foundation for a reading and spelling course which avoids use of the phonic method. Instead of teaching the word as a whole and afterward subjecting it to phonic analysis, this Synthetic Method takes the sounds of the letters for the starting point, and with these sounds lay a foundation firm and broad, upon which is built…

Designed to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to help smaller districts without curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Law, this guide contains spelling curriculum materials for grades K-3. The spelling section is part of the total language arts…

This teacher's manual is designed to help teachers organize primary level reading instruction according to the particular skill being taught and to integrate lessons from several different sources. Skills are suggested for instruction, and directions and examples are given to aid the teacher in selecting lessons from different reading program…

Teachers at the primary level should resume the neglected practice of diagnostic teaching. This means that the teacher should observe all aspects of a student's cognitive behavior in the teaching/learning act and then plan instructional strategies for subsequent lessons. Some significant cognitive behaviors observable in diagnostic teaching are…

Developed and coordinated by the Bureau of Reading Education of the New York State Education Department, Project Alert is a statewide inservice program to facilitate instituting or improving the diagnostic-prescriptive approach to reading instruction. As part of this program, a reading resource kit was prepared by the bureau to give structure and…

This publication contains papers contributed to the fifth Perspectives of Reading conference of the International Reading Association which focused on the teaching of beginning reading. The following approaches are described and evaluated: (1) individualized reading, (2) basal reading, (3) linguistic approach, (4) phonics approach, (5) new…

A committee of Oklahoma educators prepared this reading activity guide as an aid for elementary school teachers to improve their students' reading skills. Described for each activity are the objective, necessary materials, and the procedure. For many activities, a variation or variations also are suggested. The activities are arranged in the…